The Misfit
by TheCartoonusMaximus
Summary: The Strange Case of Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde, the tale of one great big misfit!
1. Prologue: You Give Me the Chills

**Prologue: "You Give Me The Chills"**

Dr. Sydney Jekyll watched as the moving van drove away down the road as she carried boxes back and forth across the living room. Using her fire abilities, she melted away the tape that held the box closed so she could unpack it.

Looking into the box, she found that it entirely contained her son's belongings, not pots and pans as she had thought it was. Sighing, Sydney closed the box back up and carried it upstairs.

Looking in through the open door to her son's room, she could see the teenager sitting on his bed, playing with his chameleon. The lizard crawled up the boy's arm, digging its toes into the long sleeve of its master's yellow shirt.

"Jackson," The grown fire-elemental said, getting her son's attention. "I found one of your boxes downstairs."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mother!" The boy cried out as he jumped up to take his belongings from his mother's arms. "I can't imagine how it got there! I should have known it was mine!"

Sydney shook her head and tussled her son's jet black hair, earning a look of irritation from him as she smiled. "So? I'll bet you can't wait to go to school next week. Who knows? Maybe you'll actually make friends this year."

Jackson Jekyll looked at his mother for a moment, blinking in bewilderment. Ever since his father, Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll, had died six years ago, he and his mother had moved to a variety of different towns. He had gone to so many schools, but had never lasted very long at any of them. He was the perpetual 'new kid,' and he was also a very nerdy, geeky, antisocial boy. He had pretty much given up on the idea of having any friends, and took solace in further advancing his IQ by reading his father's old experiment notes.

"Mother, I doubt I'll make any friends this year. Just like last year. And I doubt I'll make any next year, either. I'm just not the popular type."

"Oh, honey," his mother sat on his bed, talking to him as he began sorting through some of his boxes. "You'll never have any friends if that's how you act. Besides, you'll be in a lot of the same classes as your cousin, Heath."

Jackson actually brightened at that thought. Heath was probably the only true friend he'd ever had growing up, and he would be a lot of fun to hang out with again...

Sydney smiled when she saw the quick look of excitement pass over her son's face. She knew the two cousins shared a special bond, one that made them as close as brothers, even through all the moves. She was happy to be settling down in New Salem, the town where the rest of her family lived. She would see more of her parents and her siblings, and Jackson and Heath could spend as much time together as they liked.

Just then, the doorbell rang, so she had to jump up to see who it was. Opening the front door, she found herself looking at a short, teenaged boy with yellow skin, pointy ears, and bright red hair, all trademarks of his fire-elemental heritage. "New Salem welcome wagon, wishing the Jekyll's a very warm welcome to our neighborhood! In fact, the welcome is so warm, it's on FIRE!"

"Heath Burns!" Laughing, Sydney wrapped her arms around her nephew, hugging him as tight as she could. "Look at you! It's been ages since I've seen you in person! You've gotten so tall and handsome!"

The young fire-elemental blushed a deep red as his aunt gushed over him. He considered himself to be handsome, and it was nice to hear that someone else thought he was... even though all the girls in school tended to ignore him completely.

"Did you bring Jackson with you, Aunt Sydney?" Heath asked the grown woman when she stopped hugging him. He didn't mean to make it sound like his aunt couldn't be trusted, but she had been known in the past to be scatterbrained; it was one of the reasons why she hadn't been able to keep a permanent job for so many years.

Sydney smiled good-humoredly. "He's upstairs in his new room, unpacking. It's the first door on the left."

Eagerly, Heath Burns raced upstairs, banging the bedroom door wide open and hugging his cousin. "Hey, Jackie-boy!"

"Heath?!" The human boy asked, gasping for air. "I think you just singed my hair or something."

His overheated cousin released him and backed off quickly. "Sorry, dude."

"It's okay." Jackson smiled, for the first time in many months. "How's life, flame-brain?"

"Well, it was going pretty lame this morning, 'cause all of my bloodies were all off with their ghoulfriends or something, but it got better because now I have my dorky, nerdy, normie cousin to hang with!"

Jackson blinked at the fire-elemental from behind his glasses for a moment before rolling his eyes in confusion. "Ummm... ooo-kay." He brightened quickly, though. "Do you wanna help me find and hook up all my video game equipment?"

"You know it, cuz!"

Hours later, Sydney poked her head into Jackson's room, finding both boys asleep on the floor. Open boxes were piled around them, and they were tangled up in cords and video game controllers. Jackson's pet chameleon, Crossfade, was curled up on top of a small television set.

Smiling, she whispered into the phone she held cradled to her ear, directing her words towards her brother. "Something tells me that Heath wants to spend the night here."


	2. Chap 1: Walking Down a Darkened Hallway

**I'd like to thank you nice people (miceaholic and S.L. Gibbs) for the lovely reviews!**

**miceaholic: I'm glad you liked the prologue, and I hope you enjoy Chap 1 just as much! Yeah, there are so many conflicting ideas for exactly how Jackson/Holt are related to the first Jekyll and Hyde, and I usually write them as being the grandson(s) of the original, with their mother being the original's daughter(s). But, for this story I stuck with their father being the Original deal, and their mother being a fire-elemental.**

**S.L. Gibbs: yeah, I stole the little flame-brain nickname from Spider-man and the Human Torch! Glad you liked my little throwaway gag!**

**To review, I don't own either 'Monster High' or 'the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' I have no sense of fashion and could never create a line of fashion dolls, and I'm just not as amazing as Robert Louis Stevenson.**

**Please enjoy Chap 1!**

Chapter 1: "Walking Down a Darkened Hallway"

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_I was born in the year 18- to a large fortune, endowed besides with excellent parts, inclined by nature to industry, fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellowmen, and thus, as might have been supposed, with every degree of an honorable and distinguished future. And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such I found it hard to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more than commonly grave countenance before the public. Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of me. Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame._

_– excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

_._

_(text break)_

_._

Heath pressed his yellow finger against the Jekyll's doorbell, took it off, and pressed again, going back through this routine several more times. He couldn't help himself; it was a new school year, and he would finally have a real friend to hang out with who would put up with him and his stupidity!

Jackson finally opened the door, looking less than pleased as he winced and cleaned out one of his ears with his finger. He looked like he had been rushed in getting dressed, and he had left his shoes untied, his button-down shirt only halfway tucked in, and his black hair was soaking wet. Crossfade, the chameleon, sat perched on his shoulder.

"I was _taking a shower_, Mr. Trigger-happy!" He narrowed his blue eyes at Heath through his glasses.

Heath cringed. "Ah... sorry? But it really is time to start for school."

Jackson looked at his watch in surprise. "Oh! I didn't even realize what time it was!" He turned on his sneaker heels and rushed back into the house.

Heath stepped into the house, looking around curiously. Boy, the house was _quiet_. "Is Aunt Sydney here?"

"No, she went to work earlier this morning, and she probably won't be home 'til midnight." Jackson came running back to the front door. He had a green tote bag over his shoulder and a towel over his head, which he was drying his hair with.

"Ready to go?" Heath asked his normie cousin as he threw the towel to the floor, where Crossfade promptly curled up on it to go to sleep.

Jackson nodded, and the two cousins raced out the door.

Both boys were really wishing that New Salem High had a bus or something that they could just ride, but the folks running the school thought that the kids should all either walk or drive themselves. They were rather cruel, in this regard.

The two cousins had only gone two blocks of straight running before they were starting to slow down. Heath had been on the school track team for years, and he was used to running fast for long periods of time, but he knew that Jackson was not, and the nerdy normie was already tired out.

Heath sincerely hoped that he hadn't caused his cousin too much damage by the exertion or anything. Who else was he going to play 'Guitar Monster' with?

A large, black hearse with pink trim rolled to a stop beside the curb where the two boys were resting. They looked up as the window rolled down, and the driver leaned out to talk to them, noticeably being very careful to stay out of the sunlight.

"Hi, Heath! Is this your cousin that you were talking about? My new next door neighbor?"

Heath smiled in recognition. "Hey, D! Yeah, this is my cousin, Jackson Jekyll. Jackson, this is Draculaura. She lives in the house next to yours."

Jackson straightened up from leaning on his knees to meet this girl who drove a hearse. She had black hair that was dyed pink, pointy ears, and small fangs that poked out from between her lips. He became nervous when he realized that she was a vampire, but she was too friendly for him to be nervous for very long.

"Next door, huh?" he asked her when he caught his breath. "So you live in that house that was built to look like a creepy old castle?"

Draculaura giggled, clearly not at all offended by his description of her home. "Yeah, that's the one! My father is very fond of the old-fashioned ways, and he never really _left_ Transylvania behind." She shook her head suddenly, causing her ponytails to bob back and forth. "Anyway, you boys looked tired, so I thought I'd ask if you needed a lift to school or anything?"

"That'd be great, D!"

Both the boys climbed into the back seat of the vampire's car, happy to sit and watch the scenery fly by rather than race through it trying to make the bell.

Jackson couldn't help but stare when he realized that their driver had no reflection in her mirrors. All he could see of her was her earrings and clothing, floating in her seat.

He looked away when Draculaura noticed his wide eyes in the mirror and turned to look at him. She looked slightly amused.

"Sorry," he stuttered, embarrassed. "It's just... I've never actually really met a vampire before, so, um..."

She giggled. "It's alright. I'd rather be stared at than staked, so as long as you're not throwing holy water on my face or stabbing me with a pitchfork, I don't mind." She flashed him a dazzling smile. "Just be careful not to stare at everyone, though. I may be okay with it, but there are lots of other monsters who wouldn't like it. They would take it the wrong way, and who knows for certain how they might react."

Jackson nodded nervously. "So... what other kinds of monsters go to this school? Fire-elementals, vampires..."

Heath began counting types off on his fingers. "Gorgons, werewolves, zombies, minotaurs, ghosts, skeletons, mummies, sea monsters..."

"Pretty much everything you could possibly conjure up in your mind," Draculaura finished the list.

Jackson swallowed. "I don't even do well with humans, historically speaking. How am I even going to survive this... Monster High School?"

Draculaura bit her lip, feeling sorry for the normie who sat in her backseat. She didn't have the heart to answer him, not even to remind him that it was New Salem High, not 'Monster High.'

Then she brightened, and she glanced back towards the boys. "It's not like monsters are the only students at New Salem High! There are plenty of normies there, too!"

"Like Lilith," she added under her breath, an unhappy sneer on her face.

Jackson heard her and saw the change that came over her face, but chose to say nothing.


	3. Chap 2: Every Body Turns to Look at You

**Again, thank you guys for reading this, and thank you for following and reviewing it. I'm afraid this chapter's kind of short, but hey. It's here.**

**miceaholic: yeah, Draculaura is still sweet and innocent-seeming, but not to the point that she is on the webisodes and TV specials. She is still a vegetarian, though, but she also has an aura of mystery that shows itself later on.**

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Chapter 2: "Every Body Turns to Look At You"

_It was thus rather the exacting nature of my aspirations than any particular degradation in my faults, that made me what I was, and, with even a deeper trench than in the majority of men, severed in me those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound a man's dual nature. In this case, I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion and is one of the most plentiful springs of distress. Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of the day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering._

_– excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

**a strange case**

Jackson stood perfectly still, staring up at the school. New Salem High was a large building, and it was built as if to look like an old, gothic style mansion. Statues of gargoyles kept watch on every side of the building, and a bell tower poked up from the center of the roof.

The young aspiring scientist had never seen anything like it in real life. He had seen similar places in old movies and books, but never had he been standing in front of such a place, much less been enrolled to go to school there.

"Pretty breathtaking, isn't it?" Heath asked as he playfully punched his cousin's arm. Clearly, he was very proud of the town he lived in and the school he attended, and he wanted Jackson to feel the same way.

Draculaura walked past them, a smile on her face. "Hurry up, boys, or else we'll all be late for class! And Heath," she added, turning to the fire-elemental. "Maybe you should introduce your cousin to Clawd or some of your other friends.

"Hopefully, some friends who aren't likely to eat him," she whispered under her breath as she headed for class.

Heath brought Jackson inside and showed him where his locker was, and then the two boys raced to get to their homeroom. They arrived just as the bell rang, and their teacher (who very much reminded Jackson of the Executioner) gave them a nasty look.

"Late on your first day, boys?" The teacher asked with a sneer, a thick Limey accent on his tongue. He waved a knife in their general direction before turning back to the chalkboard behind him.

Heath sighed as he took a seat, muttering a brief explanation to Jackson. "That's Mr. Hack. He... has a bad temper. Just try to keep your head low."

Jackson couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to die before he even finished his first day here at 'Monster High.'

The human boy was actually surprised when lunch period rolled around and he was still alive. Staring around the cafeteria, he began to wonder where exactly he was supposed to sit. The cafeteria almost seemed to be cut down the middle, as humans were being served and seated on one side while monsters were served and seated on the other side.

Not even thinking about that sort of thing, Heath headed towards the monsters' lunch line (or 'lurch line' as it was more commonly called) to get his food. He could see Deuce and Clawd sitting together at a table and waved to them to save him a seat.

Curiously, Jackson followed his cousin through the slow moving 'lurch line,' only to find himself staring at strange monster food that he'd never seen before. He would have lost his appetite, but apparently there are some varieties of human foods that monsters like as well. Happily, he settled for macaroni and cheese as his main dish, with a few hot wings on the side.

Heath set his tray down at the table where Deuce and Clawd were eating, gesturing for Jackson to sit beside him. "Hey, dudes!"

"Hey, dude!"

"Bro!"

He gestured to the human sitting beside him. "This is my cousin, Jackson. He just moved into town last week!"

"You're cousin's a normie?!" was the first thing out of Deuce's mouth. He regained his composure when he saw the look of disappointment on Heath's and Jackson's faces. "I mean, uh, that's cool. I'm Deuce. Deuce Gorgon!" He held his hand out towards the new boy, smiling broadly as they shook. "Hey, um, sorry about the whole 'normie' thing, dude. I dunno what I was thinking."

Jackson shrugged. "It's alright, I suppose. I mean, I'll probably need to get used to being called that sooner or later, anyway."

The werewolf broke in right then. "I'm Clawd Wolf. It's really great to have ya here, Jackson!" He considered the boy for a moment. "You look like the kinda guy who reads a lot, so I guess you don't play a lot of sports?"

"Well, I play a little basketball—casketball, I mean," he added quickly, seeing the confused looks on their faces.

_'I have a lot to learn about the monster lingo,'_ he thought to himself.

"Play you one-on-one later," Deuce said, grinning. "If you're up to it!" He jerked his thumb at Clawd. "Playing _any_ sport against a werewolf is just not fair, if y'know what I mean."

"Hey, just be glad you've never played against me on the night of the full moon!"

Deuce laughed a little, then turned back to Jackson. "So, you in?"

Jackson blinked, surprised and completely disarmed by all the niceness going around. "Uh... sure."

"Cool." And that was all Deuce said.

Jackson came to the conclusion that Deuce didn't spend a lot of time learning vocabulary words.


	4. Chap 3: It's Not Becuz You're Different

**Hey! Sorry I haven't been updating this thing - shame on me. So, anyway, here's the next chapter!**

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Chapter 3: "It's Not Because You're Different"

_And it chanced that the direction of my scientific studies, which led wholly towards the mystic and the transcendental, reacted and shed a strong light on this consciousness of the perennial war among my members. With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens._

_– excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

[M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H]

"... So, then my mom just packed up all our stuff and next thing I know, we're living in New Salem, USA!" Deuce threw the ball at the hoop above his garage. He grinned as the ball slipped through the net. "I still kinda miss Greece, but, y'know, I love America. Great clothes, great music..." He caught the ball as it bounced back to him.

Holding the ball for a second, Deuce turned and tossed it to Jackson. "What about you?"

Jackson dribbled the ball for a minute, unsure exactly how to answer. "My parents met one another in England, and they got married there and I was born there. My father died, and my mother kept moving around. First we moved all over England, then we came to the United States and moved around some more here."

Deuce watched in amazement as Jackson's hands moved. The ball was flying around and in between the boy's legs, and his hands seemed to instinctively know where the ball was going to go next.

Jackson stopped dribbling and looked up at Deuce for a moment, not noticing the gorgon's fascination. "I honestly don't know what it's like to live in one city for very long... not even one whole year!"

Whipping around quickly, Jackson hurled the ball at the hoop, making the basket with ease. "Outside of Heath, I don't know what it's like to have any actual friends or anything. Even the other geeks in the human schools didn't want to hang out with me very often." A wicked grin came over his lips. "I think I intimidated them."

Deuce had been staring at the ball the whole time Jackson was dribbling it and when the ball had gone sailing through the hoop without the normie even watching it, but now he turned his whole attention on the nerdy boy.

"Well, dude, I hope you can consider me as a friend!" He smiled, looking evil but not meaning any harm. "'Cause you're the first guy to ever give me a run for my money at casketball who wasn't a werewolf!"

Snatching the ball off the ground, Deuce hurled it right at Jackson's head, as if to hit him in the face. This was not something humans generally did to people they considered to be their friends, but, in the monster world, murder attempts were often considered to be a kind gesture among companions. In fact, it was not uncommon for monster couples to use what appeared to be acts of cruelty to prove their love to one another.

Jackson was processing all these facts and thoughts in his head even as his hands reached up to catch the ball just inches away from his nose and glasses. His heart was racing and his body was flowing with adrenaline all of a sudden, but he knew enough about monsters and had spent enough of his life with Heath to know that Deuce had meant it as a joke, presumably forgetting about his new pal's mortality.

So, instead of getting mad or even scared, Jackson just grinned and threw the ball over his head, making careful calculations before releasing it and letting it fly through the air.

He enjoyed the look of surprise that crossed over Deuce's face as the ball went back through the hoop.

Deuce made eye-contact with him, even through the sunglasses. "Okay, smarty-pants! Bring it on!"

"You got it!"

[M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H]

"My main problem," Jackson began to explain when he and Deuce had finished their little competition. The two boys were now sitting on the front steps of the Gorgon house, gulping water and occasionally tugging at their sweat-soaked shirts. "My main problem is that I just really don't ever fit in anywhere. I mean, I was born a human, but I was raised by monsters. Therefor, I am too human to fit in with monsters, and I'm also too monster-like to fit in with humans. What category am I supposed to fall under?"

Deuce listened to him, then blew it off with a shrug. "Who cares? I mean, fitting _in_ is just so _out_, y'know? Don't worry about fitting in, dude, just worry about being yourself. People don't like you, that's their problem."

Jackson nodded, seeing the logic in his friend's way of thinking. "So, is that your philosophy for life? I mean, really, a belt buckle shaped like a cassette tape?"

Deuce just laughed, good-humoredly. "I wouldn't consider it a 'philosophy,' but that's the way I roll. Besides, I've got snakes growing out of my head! Fitting in was never an option for me, exactly. Luckily, most monsters just really don't care about that sort of thing."

Jackson listened quietly, emptying his water bottle. He decided that monsters were much cooler to hang out with than humans!


	5. Chap 4: It's Becuz You're so Scary Cool

**Since you all have been so patient in waiting, here's a second chapter even to read.**

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Chapter 4: "It's Just Because You're So Scary Cool"

_I, for my part, from the nature of my life, advanced infallibly in one direction and in one direction only. It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both; and from an early date, even before the course of my scientific discoveries had begun to suggest the most naked possibility of such a miracle, I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements._

_If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upwards path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil. It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous fagots were thus bound together—that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling. How, then were they dissociated?_

_– excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

[M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H]

Draculaura stood on the front porch of the Jekyll's house, right next door to her own, listening as the last ring of the doorbell resonated through the air, her fingers playing around with the handles of the pie plate she carried. She glanced around as she waited for someone to answer the door, happy to see the sun disappearing beneath the horizon. Bats were already flapping through the air, and she herself was itching to join them on the wing.

She mentally came back to earth though when the door opened and Jackson was standing there, greeting her with a friendly and easy-going smile.

"Hi, Jackson," she smiled at her new neighbor as she held out the pan to him. "I brought you and your mom a haunted house warming gift!"

"Oh, wow! Thanks!" He breathed deeply as he accepted the gift, looking up at her in surprise. "Is this... casketberry pie?!"

Draculaura shrugged with shame. "I didn't know what to make that a normie would eat, so I just made a monster dish. But, it's really, _really_ good-"

"No, it's okay, really!" His blue eyes met hers through his glasses as his lips pulled back in a smile. "I _love_ casketberry pie! It's not a normie food, that's true, but I absolutely _love_ it!"

The vampire girl smiled broadly, feeling a little relieved. It was then that she noticed something different about the boy. "You dyed your hair!"

Grinning at her, Jackson fingered his bangs, which he (with Heath's help) had bleached a bright yellow that afternoon, the yellow contrasting strongly with the black of the rest of his hair. "Something I thought I'd try out. What do you think?"

A sparkle came into her silver-y eyes. "I think it looks scary cool! I mean, most boys couldn't pull that sort of thing off, but on you... Fangtastic!"

Jackson couldn't help but chuckle at Draculaura's reaction, happy that someone liked his style, anyway.

A grown woman with yellow skin, pointy ears, and red hair came to the door. "Who's this, Jackson?"

"This is our next door neighbor, Mother. She brought us a casketberry pie!"

Draculaura beamed at the woman and held out her hand to shake. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Draculaura, and I'd like to welcome you to our neighborhood!"

The woman smiled and shook hands with the teenaged vampire. "That's so sweet of you! I'm Sydney Jekyll, Jackson's mother, and we'd like to thank you for your hospitality!"

Draculaura continued smiling and chatting gaily, though she couldn't help but contrast the pair of mother and son in her mind. They were so very different from one another in appearance, but so very similar in behavior.

Soon Heath came to the door. "Hey, Jackson? I think I lost Crossfade."

"What?!"

"Well, I put him into his tank and I closed the lid, but then he just disappeared!"

Draculaura watched in amusement as Jackson's face twitched. He seemed uncertain about whether he should be annoyed or amused by his younger cousin. "Heath, Crossfade is a chameleon! They blend into their surroundings!"

Heath breathed a sigh of relief, happy that Jackson wasn't actually mad at him.

"Well, I need to be going," Draculaura explained, checking the time on her iCoffin. "It's Daddy-Daughter Night at my place, and my father is probably going to call me back any minute now or something!"

Even as she spoke, everyone could hear the menacing voice of Count Dracula calling her name. Loudly. _"DRACULAURA?! WHERE ARE YOU, YOUNG LADY?!"_

"Coming, Daddy!"

Heath grinned at her. "Places to go, people to bite?"

She smiled mysteriously at her neighbors. "Something like that. Anyway, gotta fly!" With that, she vanished into the night.

Sydney laughed quietly to herself as she took the pie from her son, heading to the kitchen with it. She knew that, given the chance, Jackson was liable to eat the entire himself in one sitting, leaving none for her... which would be a shame, because it smelled so good!

Jackson and Heath headed back towards Jackson's bedroom, going back to their game of Guitar Monster.

"Draculaura said that the bleach looks good on me," Jackson remarked, fooling with his hair for a moment. "What other things could I do to improve my look?"

Heath shrugged, a teasing smile on his thin face. "Ink? Piercing? Burning your bowties and sweater vests?"

Jackson glared at his cousin for a moment, stifling any giggles that would otherwise have surfaced from his lips.

The two boys pulled out their "guitars" as they continued their game, competing with one another to see which one was the really hard core rocker.

Heath couldn't help but feel some shame to find that Jackson could rock out better than he could, and it crossed his mind that his older, nerdy cousin was actually a little bit like a rock star. Jackson had even admitted to Heath once, many years ago, that one of his secret wishes was to be a rock star someday.

Heath laughed at that thought; Jackson Jekyll? _A rock star?_ The idea was so ludicrous! Jackson just wasn't cool enough, and he never would be.

Right?

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**Let me know what you thought, please!**


	6. Chap 5: Sinister Style

**I probably should have specified earlier on in the story that Jackson doesn't quite look the way he usually does yet. He starts out as a stereotypical teenager with bad fashion tastes, and over the course of the story we're going to see him become more and more the way he appears on the cartoons and in doll form, and then eventually into Holt. Sorry for the confusion!**

**But anyway, I still don't own any of the characters. And this chapter will introduce some familiar faces from 'Ghouls Rule,' who I also don't own. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 5: "Sinister Style"**

_I was so far in my reflections when, as I have said, a side light began to shine upon the subject from the laboratory table. I began to perceive more deeply than it has ever yet been stated, the trembling immateriality, the mist-like transience, of this seemingly so solid body in which we walk attired. Certain agents I found to have the power to shake and pluck back that fleshly vestment, even as a wind might toss the curtains of a pavilion._

_For two good reasons, I will not enter deeply into this scientific branch of my confession. First, because I have been made to learn that the doom and burden of our life is bound for ever on man's shoulders, and when the attempt is made to cast it off, it but returns upon us with more unfamiliar and more awful pressure. Second, because, as my narrative will make, alas!, too evident, my discoveries were incomplete._

_Enough then, that I not only recognized my natural body from the mere aura and effulgence of certain of the powers that made up my spirit, but managed to compound a drug by which these powers should be dethroned from their supremacy, and a second form and countenance substituted, none the less natural to me because they were the expression, and bore the stamp of lower elements in my soul._

– _excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

_._

[M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H]

.

Jackson walked through the halls of New Salem High (he still called it 'Monster High' in his mind) one bright morning a couple weeks later. It was weird, walking through school all by himself, rather than having Heath trot along beside him. It was the first time in the school he'd actually been alone.

It was okay though; he felt comfortable enough, even with all the monster teens around him, to be by himself for a bit. He'd already memorized his classes and the classrooms, and had something of a map of the school worked out in his head.

The so-called 'normie' boy was pretty happy with his personal life too, since he'd finally won his days-long argument with his mother just that morning. After much going back and forth with her son, Dr. Sydney Jekyll had finally agreed that he could get a piercing.

She told him he couldn't get a tattoo though, and refused to discuss the idea any farther.

Jackson was okay with that – he'd fight that battle another time. He still wasn't exactly sure what part of his face he wanted to pierce, but he figured he'd decide that later on. For now, he just reveled in the fact that he'd fought his mother... and won.

Jackson walked up to his locker, spinning the dial on the lock with great ease, his nimble fingers reaching in for his Chemistry textbook. Another book fell out of his locker, this one with faded leather binding, and it landed on the floor between his sneakers.

He reached down to pick up his father's journal, running his fingers over the aged cover. He knew he shouldn't carry the diary with him everywhere, but he couldn't help it. Just having the book nearby was like having a trusted friend. The old diary of the infamous Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll was filled with wonderful theories, blasphemous concepts, and intellectual ideas. The pages were covered with scientific facts, and facts didn't lie.

Carefully, he slid the old book back into his locker, right between his Calculus and Dead Language textbooks, closing and locking the locker door behind him.

The poor boy started for his class but he didn't make it very far. He had barely gone five feet before rough hands grabbed him from behind and pulled, slamming the back of his head against the unyielding wall of lockers.

After the stars cleared away, Jackson opened his eyes and looked up, finding himself staring at two identical human boys who were clearly on the school's wrestling team.

The one holding him by the shoulder leaned over and sniffed Jackson's hair. "Yeah, just as I thought. Still got that 'new kid' smell!"

The other one snickered evilly. "Think we should initiate him to the bully system?"

Jackson was starting to become uneasy as he listened to them laugh over his head. He swallowed.

"What should we do first?" One of the bully jocks asked the other one. "Trash can? Swirly?"

"Actually, I was thinking wedgie!"

"But I wanted to stuff him in a trashcan!"

The two boys glared at one another over Jackson's head, both having different opinions on their bullying techniques.

Jackson decided to intervene just then, grinning sneakily up at the bullies. "If you two need some time to discuss this, I could come back later!"

He was surprised when they seemed to be actually considering his suggestion.

Another voice interjected before either one could say anything. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here. If it isn't Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle-dumber!"

Both jocks and even their victim turned to stare at the owner of the voice. It was a short girl with black hair and goth style clothing and make-up.

One of the bullies looked annoyed. "Zip it, Clair! This isn't any of your business!"

The goth rolled her green eyes and pulled out her cell phone. "Hey, I wonder who could be texting me? Whoa!" She pretended to read the screen. "The chess club gets to use the gym today? And the wrestlers have to practice outside?!"

The jocks became incredulous, and even released Jackson. "NO WAY!"

The goth smiled up at them sweetly. "Way."

"No way!"

"Way."

"We'd better go talk to Coach!" The first one said as he ran down the hallway.

His brother came after him. "Yeah! No group o' nerds is kickin' us out of the gym!"

The goth grinned as she slid her phone back into her pocket. "Child's play."

Jackson smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks. You really saved my hide."

"No problem. Messing with them always makes my day." She extended her hand towards him. "I'm Clair, by the way."

He shook her hand. "Jackson."

"Cool. See ya around!" So saying, she headed off down the hall.

Jackson watched her go, a little uncertain about the new friend he'd just made. He'd never actually met a _nice_ human before, and wasn't sure how to respond.

He shrugged and shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he picked up his tote bag from where he'd dropped it on the floor. He had to get to class, and being late was just not cool!

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**Hope you enjoyed it. Please review.**


	7. Chap 6: Mystery With a Smile

Sorry 'bout the wait, folks! But here we are now. (Been hitting writer's block on this durn thing.)

Sorry if I caused any confusion with Jackson; at the beginning of the story, he only looks like his nerdy, black-haired self, without the piercings and the tattoo and the hair dye. He gets those as the story progresses as symbols of his becoming less human and more monster.

But, this chapter introduces some familiar faces, and we see Jackson becoming just a bit more... Hyde-like.

* * *

**Chapter 6: "Mystery With a Smile"**

_I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of practice. I knew will that I risked death; for any drug that so potently controlled and shook the very fortress of identity, might, by the least scruple of the an overdose or at the least inopportunity in the moment of exhibition, utterly blot out that immaterial tabernacle which I looked to it to change. But the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at least overcame the suggestions of alarm._

_I had long since prepared my tincture; I purchased at once, from the firm of wholesale chemists, a large quantity of a particular salt which I knew, from my experiments, to be the last ingredient required; and late one accursed night, I compounded the elements, watched them boil and smoke together in the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, with a strong glow of courage, drank off the potion._

_– __excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

_._

_text break_

.

A few days later, late on a Saturday night, Jackson was walking through the maul (the monster mall) with Deuce. He was going to get his eyebrow pierced, as he had decided on, and Deuce was going to get a tattoo or something.

"Your mom really gave you permission for a tattoo?" Jackson asked in bewilderment.

"She never actually said I _couldn't_, but that may just be 'cause I never really asked her!" Deuce cast a sort of half-smile at his new normie pal. "Dude, there are some things that monsters tend to not be so picky about. Tats happen. Often. An' besides, monster tattoo parlors don't care about your age or whether or not you have your parents permission. It's just a really low priority in our little plot of the world."

Jackson shrugged, letting it go. Sometimes, it was just very hard to keep up with Deuce's way of thinking and explaining, so this time he just didn't bother. "Whatever. Meet me back here whenever you're done."

"You got it."

**M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H**

The two boys separated, one heading for 'Tattoos' and the other for 'Piercings.'

Minutes later, Jackson left the store, fingering the ring that had punctured his left eyebrow. This was not something that he would have done to himself in past years, but spending time with other monsters had really brought out the monster in him.

And the monster craved a new look.

Jackson stared at his reflection in a store window, very much liking what he was starting to see. With his dyed hair and new eyebrow ring, he was starting to look like a punk rocker or something. He had even worn his contacts that evening, instead of his glasses, and his new look was almost complete.

Jackson knew that Deuce would in no way be finished with his tattoo yet, so he headed into the bookstore to pass the time.

The bookstore contained many varieties of reading material, with popular bestsellers up at the front of the store and more practical books towards the back. Jackson was momentarily dismayed to learn that the 'Twilight' series was just as popular among monster girls.

He headed to the back, where he could see there was a science section – or, more appropriately, a 'mad' science section, since many of the books had been penned by Dr. Frankenstein, Igor, and other famous mad scientists. The books were fascinating to the young prodigy, and he wanted to sit down and read them, cover to cover, until he'd worn out the pages.

So focused was he on reading book titles and author names that he ran head-long into one of the other customers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm such a klutz – "

"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going – "

After they had both finished babbling out their apologies and shaking their heads in confusion, Jackson started to stand up. The customer he'd run into was a girl, with decomposing skin, bolts in her neck, and thick stitches holding most of her body together. Her eyes didn't match, one blue and one green, and her hair was strangely black-and-white striped.

She struck him as being very, _very_ pretty.

Trying to hide the shyness that was creeping up his spine, Jackson held his hand out to her. "Here, let me help you up."

The girl beamed, the smile on her face absolutely breathtaking. "Thank you." She allowed him to haul her to her feet, still smiling broadly, and she watched as he bent down to pick up her books for her.

"Here's your books back," Jackson told her, handing her the stack he'd picked up off the floor. "And here's your hand." He gestured to where it was perched on his shoulder.

Her smiled faded, and she blushed. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I – "

"No, it's okay! Really!" He didn't want to start the 'I'm sorry!' game again, and instead just plucked her hand from his shoulder and held it out for her, helping her refasten it to her wrist.

Her blush and smile both came back at the same time. Jackson couldn't help but think how adorably cute she looked.

Her smile faded again when she looked out through the front of the store. Following her gaze, he saw that she was looking at Draculaura and a werewolf girl who he recognized as being Clawd's sister. Both were clearly waiting for someone.

"I have to get going," the stitched-up girl explained. "My friends are probably wondering what's taking me so long."

Jackson nodded. "I understand. I need to go meet up with a friend, too." He flashed her a smile. "See you around, then!"

"Yeah, see you!"

He gazed after her for moment as she left, then shook his head dizzily and, turning, started heading for the tattoo parlor.

**M-O-N-S-T-E-R H-I-G-H**

Deuce was still sitting in a chair, a needle filled with green ink being pushed in and out of his upper arm. The needle was being pushed in and out by a young lady with purple skin and red hair, her heart-shaped mask doing nothing to hide the scars and tattoos running from her face down to her arm.

It didn't take much for Jackson to realize why his friend was taking so long; the gorgon was getting a scale pattern done all the way from his shoulder to his elbow.

"Hey, bro!" Deuce called out, holding up his free hand as a greeting. "Nice eyebrow ring, dude!"

"Thanks." Jackson sat down in the chair beside Deuce, feeling and seeing everything through a sort of haze. "Sorry if I seem a little out of sync or anything. I stopped off in the bookstore, and I met this girl! Ah, _ghoul_ I mean."

"Was she hot?"

"Oh, yeah!"

Deuce grinned and fist-bumped his friend. "What's her name?"

"Well, maybe _met_ isn't the right word, exactly, but she's this super-cute little Frankenstein girl!"

"Ah, you mean Frankie," Deuce decided, realizing who the girl must be. "Frankie Stein. You'll see her at school."

Before Jackson could say anything else, a squid-monster walked up to him. "And what kind of tattoo would you like, young man?" He held up a poster that showed all the designs the parlor sold.

"Oh, I'm not actually here for... I mean, my Mom..." The boy trailed off as he became engrossed in all the available tats.

For a moment, he lost his mind.

"I'd like that one," he explained, pointing to a yin-and-yang symbol. "And I'd like it on my back, right between my shoulder-blades."

The squid nodded as he put the poster away.

Jackson became aware of Deuce staring at him as he removed his shirt, and he met his friend's gaze. "What?"

Deuce just shook his head and leaned back in his chair with a smile. "I was just wondering what sort of technique your mom was going to use to kill you."

Jackson fell silent at that, and he felt cold all over. _What was he doing? What had he said? Why had he requested a tattoo? Why was he laying on a chair in the tattoo parlor, his shirt sitting beside him and his back bared and waiting expectantly for the tattoo that his mother didn't want him to get?_

This is what was going through his mind even as he felt the tattoo artist's tentacles on his back, and as he felt the needle jab him.

After the initial jab, though, all he could think was, _'That hurts!'_

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**I hope everyone enjoyed it! Please review! 'Later!**


	8. Chap 7: You're Drop-Dead Gorgeous

**New chapter!**

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Chapter 7: "You're Drop Dead Gorgeous"

_The most racking pangs succeeded a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness._

_There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was the conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but an innocent freedom of the soul._

_I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. I stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of these sensations; and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature._

_– excerpt from the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

_[monster high]_

Jackson sat at the kitchen table, wearing his pajamas, absentmindedly dunking cookies into a glass of milk and occasionally even remembering to eat the cookie when he was finished.

It was really late on Sunday night, almost midnight and long past the time that Jackson should have gone to bed. But, he wasn't at all tired, so he was staying up late, munching on cookies and waiting for his mother to come home from work. Her job had such a crazy schedule; going in before the crack of dawn some days, coming home at two-o'-clock in the morning others... It was impossible for Jackson to keep up with his mother at all.

He was lost deep in thought at that particular moment, and all he could see was Frankie Stein. Her beautiful, mismatched eyes. Her striped hair. The pretty smile on her face...

Sydney entered the house just then, trying to be quiet at first so that she wouldn't wake Jackson up, but then she saw that he was still awake and allowed her shoes to clack against the floor.

"Hi, honey," she said, ruffling his hair as she walked past where he sat. She chuckled when he looked up at her in irritation.

Pouring a glass of milk for herself, she collapsed at the table across from her son and started eating cookies herself. "So, what are you doing still up on a school night?"

Jackson sighed, blowing the bleached bangs out of his eyes, his new eyebrow piercing flashing in the light for a moment. "When Deuce took me to the maul last night, I saw this girl. A monster girl. We talked for a minute, and now I can't get her face out of my mind."

Sydney cocked one of her red eyebrows curiously. Perhaps he had been entranced by a vampire, or a genie, or some other monster that he wasn't used to?

She watched as her son picked up a piece of scrap paper and a pencil and began doodling, making a simple drawing of a ghoul's face. Black-and-white striped hair emerged, as did bolts and stitches.

"A Frankenstein..." she murmured, more to herself than to her son.

Jackson looked fascinated. "Like, as in 'Dr. Frankenstein?' The mad scientist?" He spoke the name with a certain amount of adoration, the mad doctor in question being one of his idols.

He paused and looked sheepish for a moment. "Well, Deuce _did_ say that her name was Frankie Stein. I guess I should have put that together, huh?"

Sydney laughed quietly. "Well, even the genius prodigies can't win them all, sweetheart."

Downing the last of her milk, the grown fire-elemental stood and moved to set the glass by the sink. "Come on, Jackson. It's long past time for you to get some sleep. You don't want to nod off in the middle of calculus..."

She trailed off suddenly. She stood directly behind him at the moment, and she was shocked to see a tattoo poking out from the back of his pajama shirt.

Gripping the back of her son's shirt, she pulled it down and found herself staring at an inked yin-and-yang symbol.

"Did I or did I not distinctly tell you not to get a tattoo?!" She scolded him, raising her voice but trying hard not to actually yell at the boy. "What were you thinking?! You are in so much trouble, young man! I ought to hit you upside the head! As of now, you are grounded to your room! And you won't be allowed to..."

She ground herself to a halt when she realized that he wasn't even listening to her. Instead, he was staring at the picture he'd drawn of the Frankenstein girl, something of a dreamy expression on his face.

_'He has a crush!'_ She realized all of a sudden. _'For the first time, he has a crush on a girl and he can't get her out of his mind no matter how hard he tries!'_

It occurred to her that it was probably difficult for him, since he had never actually had a crush on a girl before. He had always played it safe and kept his nose in a book, and had seldom paid girls any attention at all.

She found herself smiling and giggling uncontrollably as she stared at the look on his face.

Jackson heard his mother giggling and turned to stare at her nervously. "What's wrong, Mother?"

"Nothing, sweetie. You're just so adorable when you're crushing on a girl!"

"I-uh-what... a crush?"

Jackson was struck by this thought. Did he have a crush? He'd never had one before...

He certainly was attracted to this Frankie girl. She was pretty. She was sweet. She was a fascinating specimen of scientific advancements, and he could do nothing to get the lyrical sound of her voice out of his head...

Maybe he did have crush. But, what should he do now?

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**Read and review, please.**


	9. Chap 8: High School Gives Me the Creeps

**Sorry it's been so long, guys!**

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**Chapter 8: "High School Gives Me The Creeps"**

_There was no mirror at that date, in my room; that which stands beside as I write, was brought there later on and for the very purpose of these transformations. The night, however, was far gone into the morning – the morning, black as it was, was nearly ripe for the conception of the day – the inmates of my house were locked in the most rigorous hours of slumber; and I determined, flushed as I was with hope and triumph, to venture in my new shape as far as to my bedroom. I crossed the yard, wherein the constellations looked down upon my, I could have thought, with wonder, the first creature of that sort that unsleeping vigilance had yet disclosed to them; I stole through the corridors, a stranger in my own house; and coming to my room, I saw for the first time the appearance of Edward Hyde._

– _excerpt from the diary of the late Dr. Henry "Harry" Jekyll_

M-o-n-s-t-e-r H-i-g-h

Monday morning rolled around, and Jackson found himself walking through the halls of New Salem High yet again. He was struggling to keep his tired eyes open, since he had stayed up far too late for the past two nights.

He had dyed his hair, pierced his eyebrow, got a tattoo, changed his wardrobe dramatically, opted to wear his contacts rather than his glasses...

… and now he was becoming a night owl, too.

Jackson sighed and rubbed his eyes as he walked down the hall, trying to rub the sleep out of them. He desperately needed to work out his schedule, whether he had feelings for a girl or not, and get some decent sleep for at least one night.

He didn't _have_ to up so late, after all. It wasn't like he was a rock star with all-night gigs, or like he was going to late night parties or anything. Disc Jockeys stayed up all night, not nerdy normies.

He sat in Dead Languages class, as taught by a weird zombie guy of sorts named Mr. Rotter, but he just couldn't focus on the lesson. All Jackson could think was that the teacher bore a striking resemblance to the Phantom of the Opera, only he was wearing a coat similar to something that Jackson's own "father" might have worn.

Jackson felt his eyes begin to droop again, and he stifled a yawn as he raised his hand.

Mr. Rotter scowled at him menacingly. "Yes, Mister Jekyll?"

"May I please be excused to use the bathroom?"

The teacher considered for a moment, then agreed, handing the boy a hall pass.

Jackson left the classroom, heading down the hall. He passed by the hall monitor, a young gargoyle girl with a soft French accent, brandishing his hall pass for her to see.

She smiled at him sweetly and nodded, pink hair with blue stripes bobbing up and down.

Soon, Jackson was standing in the boys' bathroom, rinsing his face off with water and looking up to stare at himself in the mirror.

"Look," he told himself angrily. "When we get home, we are going straight to bed, and we are going to get some sleep? Are we clear?"

He wasn't sure why he had a habit of talking to himself and referring to himself as "we" when he did, but it was just a habit that he had grown up practicing. His father had often done so, back when he was still alive, but... for his own reasons.

Giving his face one last rinse, he finally exited the boy's room and began to head back to Mr. Rotter's Dead Languages class.

What _were_ they learning today, anyway? He had been struggling so hard to keep his eyes open that he hadn't been paying a lot of attention. Was it Latin... or was it Zombie? Oh well, no matter: Jackson was fluent in both languages and would ace any test that Rotter could throw at him.

He exchanged smiles with the gargoyle again as he passed by and he turned the corner...

… only to find himself in the wrong part of the school.

The hall monitor must have moved from her previous station. Why had he used her as a landmark in his mind?!

Thinking he had an idea of where he was, Jackson continued heading down the hall he was in, passing all of the completely identical doors. He finally reached one that looked right and stepped through it.

He found himself in a long, dark hallway. He started to turn around, intending to go back through the door, but he tripped over something and ended up falling down some sort of ramp, the door slamming shut as he fell.

Jackson groaned to himself as he landed hard on his backside. As he sat up, he began to wonder where he was. It almost seemed like... tunnels under the school or something.

"The Catacombs," he whispered to himself. He had heard of them – tunnels built beneath the school that led to the zombie side of town, thus cutting down on a lot of traffic. He had never fully been certain of their existence, but the tunnels were clearly real.

Standing up, he began to walk forward. He had no choice.

He was going to be missed, eventually. Would people come to look for him? Would he get in trouble? Would people think he'd gotten himself lost on purpose?

Feeling his way around down a long, twisted tunnel, the human boy's hand finally touched something that felt like doorknob. Figuring he had no better options, he turned the knob and walked through the door.

He squinted as he entered a fairly lit up room, then began to survey the place as his eyes adjusted. There were spider-webs and cobwebs everywhere, but the room was clearly lived in. A beautiful organ stood at one end of the room, with several lit candles set on it in various places.

A girl was sitting at the organ, playing a haunting melody. A large spider with a pompadour sat perched on her shoulder.

Finishing her refrain, the girl spun around in her seat and looked at the confused and startled look on Jackson's face. "Well, don't ya'll just look a sight!"

Jackson stared at her as the girl laughed. Something about her was very familiar.

The girl stood up and walked over to him. "Didjou getcherself lost, swee' pea?"

"I uh, yeah, I took a wrong turn and ended up down here... I'm supposed to be in Dead Languages with Mr. Rotter..." Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, the boy finally stuck out his hand towards her. "I'm Jackson."

"Ah'm Operetta," the girl answered, grasping his hand in hers and giving it a fierce squeeze. She suddenly clucked her tongue and her eyes lit up. "Now Ah know where Ah know you from! Ah saw you at the tattoo parlor awhile back, didn't Ah? Yin-an'-yang?"

"Oh, yeah. That was me." He smiled almost sheepishly at the pretty girl. Why did monster girls have to be so beautiful?

"Yeah, Ah remember now! Ah spent all night on yer snake friend's arm. How're his tats holdin' up, by the way? Jes' curious. C'n Ah see yer ink?"

Blushing, Jackson turned around and let her pull his shirt collar down, hearing the sounds of approval and appreciation she made.

"Looks real nice back there, shugah," she told him with a flirtatious wink. "Now, how's about we git you back up ta the surface world?"

Operetta grabbed a torch off a nearby wall and headed out of the room, Jackson following at her heels.

Over rivers, past strange looking gates and doors, up staircases, and avoiding the dragons and scargoyles they passed by, the two kids finally made their way back into one of the school's hallways.

"Here ya are, darlin,'" Operetta said, pointing a slender purple finger towards of a door. "That there is Mistah Rotter's class. Ya'll better git goin' if ya don't wanna git a tardy!"

"Thanks for all your help, Operetta!"

She chuckled to herself as she watched the normie scamper off to class. "Aw, 'tweren't nothin.'"

Jackson reached the door just as the bell rang, and he was almost run over by the hoard of students that fled the room.

He shrank back behind the door, hoping no one would notice him, but let out a small yelp when a person's face poked _through_ the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the ghost girl whispered with her airy voice. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, Spectra," Jackson told her, putting his hand over his heart. "I really need to get used to seeing all manner of things, and a ghost walking through things should really be the least of my worries."

Spectra smiled at him and held out the familiar, leather-bound book. "I wanted to return this to you. You must have dropped it in the hall, and I found it on the floor. The name on the inside cover was 'Jekyll,' so I thought it might be yours."

His blue eyes lit up, almost a fire-like spark in them. "Thank you so much, Spectra! It's my father's diary, and I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost it for good!"

Hovering beside him, the ghost ghoul looked at him quizzically. "Doesn't your father get upset that you carry his diary everywhere with you?"

"I only wish he did," Jackson whispered. "My father is dead, Spectra."

Her purple eyes widened. "You mean, _dead_ dead? As in, never coming back dead?"

"Yeah, that dead. He literally drove himself mad and took his own life when I was little."

"Oh..." Spectra gaped at him. "I'm sorry."

Jackson nodded. "So, I like to keep his diary nearby a lot. The words that he wrote... the things he was feeling... It's like I still have a part of him with me at all times. Like there's a piece of his spirit written onto these pages."

The ghost smiled at him. "I understand."

The two friends parted ways, heading for separate classes.

Spectra frowned. She was a snitch, and she had read part of that diary. She didn't understand quite what it was she had read, and so she couldn't put it into her blog or her school newspaper or anything...

… but the words were enough to make her wonder about the future of Jackson Jekyll.


End file.
